Saving Childhood Ryan: Fighting for Children Together

Abstract

The publication, of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (commonly known as the Ryan Report) on 20 May 2009 revealed horrific wrongdoings perpetrated against children living in institutions during the period 1936 to 2000. The Commission was the largest ever investigation into child abuse in Ireland. The report’s findings are now etched on the nation’s psyche and will forever be a stain on our country. Some of us had an inkling of the contents that lay within its pages, but nothing could have prepared us for learning of the deeply inhumane and appalling cruelties catalogued within it. As a nation and a people, we realised that we had failed miserably in our duty to protect and cherish these children.